This is the time of year when people dust off the familiar advice about preparing your building for winter as falling temperatures and shorter days focus our minds on the months ahead.

Naturally, there is a focus on risks of freezing pipes and storm damage to fragile structures that may not have received as much care and attention as they perhaps should have, and these are certainly things you should check on before really bad weather arrives.

Has the roof been checked? Are the gutters securely fixed and free from blockages? Are pipes in common areas and outdoor garden taps adequately lagged to avoid bursting and checked for leaks and drips? Have all leaseholders been reminded to check inside their flats? After all, one of the main causes of insurance claims is the escape of water and just assuming that “the insurance will pay” is scant comfort when there’s water dripping through the ceiling.

Of course, much of the advice in avoiding water and structural damage reminds you about jobs and checks you should be keeping on top of all year round anyway. It’s not as if winter comes as a surprise – it happens every year! Besides, the high, and often torrential, rainfall of this summer and autumn serves as a reminder that bad weather can come at any time, not just winter.

We also think it’s worth stressing that everyone has a role to play in winter preparedness. It’s not just a job for the management company. Leaseholders can and should take some responsibility for their own flats:  leases may even state clearly that they have a duty to keep internal plumbing, electrical, and gas services safe. If so, it’s worth pointing it out as an encouragement to actually check pipes and fittings and not just pay lip service. Insurance can only ever be for unexpected events; lack of basic maintenance and failure to take reasonable precautions could result in a claim being reduced or even declined.

It may also help to remind everyone living in the building that making lots of insurance claims could mean higher insurance premiums or excesses, for which they will pay.

Quite simply, well-maintained and managed buildings are deemed less likely to experience structural, water, or fire damage. So, insurers must consider the overall condition of a block, along with its planned maintenance and inspection schedule, before offering coverage terms and deciding on the premium of a building insurance policy. This is why they take out inception surveys on new risks; and until that is done and any urgent works required have been undertaken, a policy is usually “subject to survey” and any claims could be reduced or even declined if lack of maintenance or reasonable care was identified as a root cause.

If you’ve just been automatically renewing your policy year after year, it could well be worth commissioning your own condition survey to identify any issues that require attention. If you are able to provide evidence of a regime of regular checks and inspections, it is more likely that should it arise, a liability claim can be quickly and smoothly processed.

Insurers do pay out – but fair’s fair

Generally, insurance claims are handled efficiently, especially if you have a broker with a dedicated claims team to do much of the legwork for you. Claims are only declined or reduced if the circumstances give the insurer little choice. After all, it is all of us, as policyholders, that end up footing the bill and fair’s fair.

Last year’s weather damage insurance claims were the worst on record with property insurers paying out the equivalent of £13 million every day last year – so yes, they do pay out but in our eyes that’s £13m of misery for occupiers. No one really wants to be at the receiving end, so it really does make sense to check the plumbing and structure before the bad and cold weather arrives.

Year-round checks (mending the roof while the sun is shining) can include routine tasks like cleaning gutters, servicing heating systems, and checking the building’s structure. Routine maintenance not only extends the life of the property and helps with insurance claims, but also helps to avoid sudden and unexpected repair costs, which are uninsured and can be significantly more expensive than they would have been if the problem had been nipped in the bud.

Never too late

Even if pre-planned and ongoing maintenance is going to have to be a resolution for 2025 now, don’t put off the last-minute checks to reduce your risk of falling victim to two of the most common causes of damage: escape of weather and structural storm damage.

We’ll let the ABI (Association of British Insurers) have the last word on protecting against burst pipes and leaks. One of their key pieces of advice is to make sure everyone knows where their stopcock is – the quicker the water is off, the less distress all around. We also think it’s important that there’s a readily accessible list of emergency contacts and key holders in case there’s a problem in an unoccupied flat. Perhaps the block would benefit from taking out a 24/7 emergency advice and repair service which will help to minimise any damage and cover the cost of emergency callouts.

Do invest in at least a visual check of the roof (loose tiles, slates, and flashing), walls (cracks and pointing), and guttering. Be sure to ask a trusted builder or professional surveyor, and get obvious problems fixed as soon as possible.

Finally, check your insurance policy to make sure you are covered for things like trace and access costs (to get to the root cause of leaks and make good afterward), and claims arising from unoccupied or sub-let flats, etc. Here at Gallagher, we’re always happy to answer any queries about policies we’ve arranged if you give us a call.

Disclaimer:

The sole purpose of this article is to provide guidance on the issues covered. This article is not intended to give legal advice, and, accordingly, it should not be relied upon. It should not be regarded as a comprehensive statement of the law and/or market practice in this area. We make no claims as to the completeness or accuracy of the information contained herein or in the links which were live at the date of publication. You should not act upon (or should refrain from acting upon) information in this publication without first seeking specific legal and/or specialist advice. Arthur J. Gallagher Insurance Brokers Limited accepts no liability for any inaccuracy, omission or mistake in this publication, nor will we be responsible for any loss which may be suffered as a result of any person relying on the information contained herein.

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